Knitted garment



t.- 2 1952 M. A. MINTZ EI'AL 2,615,170

KNITTED GARMENT Filed Sept. 19, 1950 INVENTORS' M/iamA/W'miz 'eazyeh lawiazad 5 BY v I ATTORNEYS:

Patented Oct. 28, 1952 KNITTED GARMENT Milton A. Mintz, Lafayette Hill, and George W. Loveland, Ardmore, Pa.

Application September 19, 1950, Serial No. 185,534

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to hosiery and like garments especially of the type consisting of fabrics that are knitted from silk, artificial silk, rayon, nylon, and the like, and which are mostly delicate due to the fact that the fabrics are formed of yarns of extremely fine denier.

It has been found that in handling hosiery of this type, they are very susceptible to runs, snags, tears, and the like, and that much care must be taken to see that the hosiery or like garments are not engaged by foreign objects during use or when being suspended for dyeing, drying, or similar purposes.

In full-fashioned hosiery and like garments of the type herein contemplated, various parts of the garment are secured together by means of seams, these seams usually being of the lock stitch type, although any suitable seam may be employed. It will be understood that by the use of the word seam, mock seams as used and applied on circular knit hosiery are also contemplated as being within the purview of this invention.

The present invention contemplates a unique structure of the seam and/or other means which permit the hosiery to be suspended from a suitable support in such a manner that the body portion of the stocking itself does not engage the support, and consequently all danger of injury to the body is avoided.

For purposes of this invention, we have chosen to illustrate a stocking with the seam shown being that commonly present at the rear of the stocking for the purpose of joining the longitudinal edges of the fabric together.

From the foregoing, it is obvious that the principal object of the present invention is to provide in hosiery and like garment structures, means for suspending the same so that the body portion is free of contact with the support, and therefore unlikely to be damaged thereby.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view of the upper portion of a stocking,

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing a modified form,

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view of the lower or foot portion of the stocking illustrating a further application of the invention,

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 illustrating another embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing a further improvement, and

Fig. 6 is a perspective View illustrating the stocking in suspended condition.

Referring now to the drawings, in which similar parts are referred to by the same character, it will be seen that the stocking comprises a body of leg portion I, an upper welt 2, and a foot portion 3 provided with conventional reinforcement as indicated at 4.

In knitting present day, full-fashioned hosiery, the stocking is knitted in a flat condition, after which it is folded upon itself, and the meeting longitudinal edges are secured together by means of a seam 5 which extends from the toe of the stocking upwardly at the rear of the leg portion and terminates in the welt.

In the present invention instead of terminating the seam as is customary, the seaming machine is operated so that a free portion of the seam is formed above the welt as indicated at 6. This free seam is folded upon itself to form a loop, and is then secured to the top of the welt at the point 1 where the free seam portion 6 leaves the welt. Consequently, it will be seen that the seam and loop are integral, and that the loop portion is formed continuously with the formation of the seam connecting the longitudinal edges of the stocking.

It is apparent that the loop heretofore described is in a convenient location for use in suspending the stocking from a suitable support, such as indicated at 8, without any danger of the body of the stocking being engaged by the support with consequent snagging of the stocking.

In Fig. 2, a further modification has been shown which embodies all of the features of Fig. 1, but in addition provides a second loop 9 which, as shown, is arranged diametrically of the first loop, although this is not at all essential, and the second loop and other loops may be attached to the welt at any place around its edge.

The loop 9 may be formed by the seaming machine or any other type lock stitch sewing machine to produce a length of thread which may be folded upon itself and secured to the welt at Hi to form the loop. The loop 9 as illustrated is attached to the stocking by placing the body of the stocking in a lock stitch machine, securing one end to the body by said lock stitch machine, continuing operation of the machine to form a thread free from attachment to the body, then folding this thread upon itself to form a loop and attaching the other end of the loop to said body by the lock stitch machine.

With reference to Fig. 3, it will be seen that the rear seam 5 is provided with loops I l and I2,

one of which is located at the heel of the stocking and the other beneath the arch of middle portion of the foot portion of the stocking.

These loops are formed in substantially the same manner as the loop in Fig. 1, in that the seaming machine and stocking are moved away from each other so that a portion of the seam is free from and disconnected from the stocking along its length. These free portions of the seam are then folded upon themselves to form the loops and attached to the stocking at the point where the loop or free portion of the seam began, although of course it is understood that it is not essential that this connection of the loop be in exactly the same spot that the seam left the stocking. In other words, the loop may be formed by spacing the points at which the ends of the free seam engage the stocking.

In Fig. 4, the foot portion is provided with the loop H as in Fig. 3, but in this instance, the additional' loop [3 is provided at the toe' of the stocking; and is formed in the same manner as the loop of Fig. 1.

In all forms of the invention, it is apparent that the loop is attached to one of the strongest portions of the fabric, and that consequently the danger of runs is considerably lessened; It is also apparent that in all forms of the invention, the loops. extend outwardly from the stocking and that they are readily available for passing over a suitable support without the necessity of the body of the stocking engaging the support.

In Fig. 5, a further embodiment isdisclosed in which instead of using a portion ofthe seam to form the-loop, a fabric tape which may be braided orotherwise formed, is folded upon itself to form a loop l4; after which its free ends are placed atthe location of the rear seam 5 and the seaming operation completed, which at the same time locks theloop to the seam as shown.

While the" invention as illustrated shows the suspension loops formed at various locations, it will be obvious, of course, that we are not restricted to this, but may form the loop at any convenient location.

What we claim is:

1. A stocking or like garment of the class described comprising a body having longitudinal edge portions, said body being folded upon itself to form toe, leg, and welt portions, a seam connecting the longitudinal edges of said portions, 2. portion of the thread comprising the seam being free from engagement. with the body along its Iengthand being folded upon itself and secured to the body at the beginning of the free portion of the seam thread to form a suspending loop thereby forming a substantially continuous'stocking seam.

2. A stocking or like garment comprising a knitted fabric. body having longitudinal edge portions, said body being folded upon itself to form toe, leg, and welt portions, a seam connecting the longitudinal edges of said portions, the thread comprising the seam being continued beyond an end of the stocking and being folded upon itself and having. its free end connected to the stocking to formia'suspendin loop.

3. A garment as claimed in claim 1 characterized: by the fact. that a plurality of. loops are formed atspaced points along the seam.

MILTON A. MINTZ. GEORGE W. LOVELAND..

REFERENCES CITED The following references. are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 7 Name Date 1,844,960 Kingman 1- Feb. 16, 1932 2,342,974 Sepessy Feb. 29, 1944 2,477,036 Bailey July 26, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 323,241 Germany Sept. 13, 1921 572,455 Germany Mar. 16', 1933 

